from the first local station with news in high definition. this is 9 news now, the week in review. good morning and happy new year, welcome to 9 news now and the week in review, i'm anita brikman. the fallout from the attempt to blow up an airliner on christmas day. many questions to be answered. how did 23-year-old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab get on an amsterdam to detroit flight with explosives on his body. the suspect in the bombing over detroit was able to pass through

security despite carrying an explosive powder. it could have been picked up by a high tech scanner. some say they see too much and can violate a passenger's privacy. >> reporter: in an off building some of the advanced scanning machines in the country are made. rapid scan makes a low level x-ray machine that provides a two-dimensional image of the company. >> we believe that this is the best technology to go along with the metal detectors and the baggage screeners already out there. >> reporter: i tested it to find out why. at first it scans the front of my body and the brack. for privacy i hold a thick stack of paper in the process. within seconds the image appears on a computer. it clearly detects the paper and my microphone. >> any normal detector would

detect this knife but not this liquid. >> this picks up liquids and other threats that are concealed under your clothing. >> i tried that out as well. the machine detects both the knife and the liquid and we learn how a tsa agent would highlight those threats in a separate room and send a message to the agent helping the passenger. the second agent would see this image. that takes care of privacy concerns. >> the operators are trained to look for threats. the threats that the back scatter takes stands out against a person's body. >> it costs roughly $250,000. they will be installed at airports by 2012. they were introduced into 10 airports including reagan international and bwi. passengers on board that delta

flight are being credited with thwarting the attack. there are signs that can tip you off that somebody may be up to no good. we have that part of the story. >> reporter: airport screening check points under the microscope after a would-be suicide bomber tried to take down the detroit-bound jetliner christmas day. experts say we can not put all of our efforts in technology. >> that is not true. the technology keeps failing. >> reporter: he is president of new age security solutions. he specializes in human behavior pattern recognition of tel aviv airport in israel. he said we're neglecting the people behind the bombs. >> we're not interested in a person's religion or ethnic background. or the color of his skin. what we are interested in is his behavior -- his or her behavior. >> reporter: in the case of the christmas day terror attack the

suspect had stress indicators. >> nervous pacing. >> reporter: unusual signed continued on the plane. >> most passengers don't spend that much time in the rest room. we know now he needed the time to prepare his device and maybe prepare himself for the final move to the next world. >> reporter: and there was more when he returned to his seat. >> this is a war between people. the people that are attacking us have all of the elements of human behavior including the failures of human bief yours. >> i should be more observant myself. yeah, i think so. i think everybody should look out for anything suspicious that is going on. so what was it like to be a passenger on that northwest delta flight into detroit as an alleged terrorist tried to blow it up? a firsthand account from a baltimore man who said he had no idea how close he was to losing everything. >> i thought it was some joker

who set up a fireworks. it never occurred to me that someone was going to make a bomb. >> reporter: he said everything happened so fast. one minute passengers on northwest flight 253 were relaxing waiting to land. >> and then the commotion started and there was a pop, as if a balloon was being punctured, and then there was suddenly almost bedlam in the plane. >> sitting across from the alleged terrorist on the jet, this man heard screams and saw fire. >> i looked over there and there was the colors of flames and there was smoke coming from there. and then there was fighting going on there. i saw there was some struggling. before i knew it, somebody was marching somebody else down the aisle with this -- with his arm around his neck up to the

first-class section where they kept him until the plane landed. >> what he could not know then was the 23-year-old suspect, umar farouk abdulmutallab had came frighteningly close to taking that plane down with an explosive hidden in his underwear. the passengers waited for five hours and tried to digest what had just almost happened to them. >> i did not have all of the details until later. i didn't realize at that time that we were about to be blown up. the first thing i did when i got home was open up my suitcase and have a nice drink of the dutch gin i brought along. >> he was shaken up for a few days but is much better. the 30-year-old salisbury man charged with the disappearance of a girl found dead on christmas denies he killed her. he was charged with kidnapping and burglary one day after sarah

haley foxwell reported her missing. she was taken from her home where she lived with her aunt. her body was found on christmas day. leggs' attorney denies he had anything to do with it. her death has been ruled a homicide clearing the way for prosecutors to charge leggs with murder. one deputy is home from the hospital after being shot at the county courthouse. deputies released him wednesday. he was stabbed and then shot the deputy in the leg. embree and his wife say they are grateful. >> oh, gosh, yes. >> every day. >> things could have gotten worse. we thank the lord that things turned out the way they did and, you know, we thank everyone for their prayers and blessings. >> family and friends and

co-workers. >> yeah. prosecutors charged george phillips with attempted murder. deputy leak is still recovering. the washington wizards top player got caught up in a criminal investigation. the "new york post" reported that gilbert arenas and another drew guns at each other. the argument stemming from a gambling debt. armando truly has the story. >> reporter: gilbert arenas had no comment and ducked our cameras. the "new york post" is reporting that the franchise player waved a gun in javaris crittenton's face. nba sources allege that crittenton pulled his own gun and this prompted the christmas eve release that made no mention of the altercation. the team put out a second statement saying it takes the ongoing investigation seriously

and is cooperating with the authorities and mba. from the coach on down a silent scream. >> their team is made a statement and we're not going to comment any further. >> we believe in each other and the team is a family. >> i don't know what you're talking about. >> reporter: equally mum, d.c.'s top cop. >> i can't comment on that. >> reporter: when the dc department files a case we file a report. public documents get a lot of information about what happened in that given incident. in the arenas matter this was not filed. >> we treat everybody the same, whether it is a v.i.p. or police officer or anybody else. >> that was armando truly reporting, thank you. if a picture says a thousand words, we have a million for you. you saw video that made you think can you believe this is

real? drew levinson combined a lot of outstanding video clips and brought the best up for the year 2009 caught on tape. >> reporter: they were the shots seen round the world. pictures that made us say is that real? in 2009 a mother in australia watched helplessly as a stroller carrying her 6-month-old son rolled in front of a train. in boston a drunk fell on to the subway tracks. and a woman got her hand stuck in the subway door. everyone was okay. and speaking of being okay, it was called the miracle on the hudson, a pilot named sully became a national hero as he belly-floopd his jetliner into the fridge rid river. all people on board lived to tell the tale. those stories were not a joke. this was a hoax. full of hot air. america fretted, fearful a 6-year-old boy was inside of

this balloon as it floated across the colorado sky. he wasn't there and his parents pleaded guilty to charges of making it all up. the year was full of police chases, and this was the money shot, literally, cash cascading from a suspected drug-runners truck. >> i saw it was $100 bills flying from the sky. >> reporter: there were kids in cars. check out the 7-year-old in utah who drove home. he stole his dad's vehicle to skip church. in the end he probably was praying he would be spared his father's wrath. this philadelphia baseball dad caught a foul ball. his 3-year-old daughter quickly threw it back. all he could do is hug her, nothing like a father's love. this proposal of love made misty a little misty as dennis popped the question from an indiana field. and before the i-dos this minnesota groom and bride

boogied down the aisle. the prime minister was blood deed after a protestor smashed a statuette into his face. remember the iraqi that threw a shoe into president bush. and then someone tried to put a foot in his mouth. and there was no decorum at at a dallas commissioners' meeting. maybe they could have learned a lesson of peace from knees three. yup, that is a mouse sitting on a cat sitting on a dog. this deer wasn't caught in the headlights, but better yet the christmas lights. finally not to sound cheesy but check out this five and a half foot tall santa carved out of a ton of wisconsin cheddar. it is saint nick's way of saying be good for goodness sake. drew levinson. bad pun, we'll be right

back. stay with us.

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when we entered into the new year, some new laws and rules and regulations came in. maryland allows prince georges county to install speed cameras. in montgomery county neighbors can't store unused cars trucks and trailers on that are residential property for more than 30 days. in d.c. shoppers have to pay a nickel for every paper or plastic bag they use at a drug or grocery or liquor store. by late january parking meter rates jump to $2 per hour. in virginia a new law goes into effect today requiring cigarettes be made with a

special paper that is less flammable and less likely to allow flames to spread. how many times has this happened to you? you get the bag of chips home only to find out it is half empty. nobody swiped your saltines, it is called puffed up packaging. leslie foster takes a look inside those unfilled boxes in this consumer alert. >> reporter: it is hard not to feel a little ripped off when you rip into a favorite snack only to find a lot of empty space. just look at this bottle of vitamins. >> i feel cheated. >> i'm annoyed. >> reporter: todd marks said readers complained about all kinds of products. though the amount offed product is listed on the packaging, what people find are items that are not close to full. >> some items like potato chips benefit from air in the package. that is to protect them when they're being shipped on trucks and stacked on top of one

another. >> reporter: what about this whole grain fast and natural rice. >> we contacted a consumer representative from uncle bens and they said rice needs to breathe. >> this box of shredded wheat. >> post said yes, it is true, cereal does settle. they said another reason we don't overfill the bags is because it won't seal properly. >> reporter: one product really stands out. >> pastaroni was the most egregious ones we saw. the company says they use the same size box for all of their products even though the weight is not the same. they do this to help keep down costs. >> the other way to cut costs is to keep on doing what you see here and not fill a box all the way to the top. leslie foster, 9 news now and wusa9.com. marketing experts say if given a choice between products

of equal weight, customers choose a bigger package. there is a law that prevents empty spaces in package but there is plenty of wiggle room. plans to overhaul the national mall have been revealed. all options call for restoration of green space and walkways. big changes at union square and reflecting pool are part of the plan. total price tag more than $700 million. the park service is accepting public comments on the plans through mid-march. it might not have been a banner year for the maryland terps football team but the university of maryland recently won a national title of a totally different kind. 9 news now meteorologist and green guy howard bernstein explains. >> reporter: champions of the americas greenest campus contest sponsored by climate consult ter got.com. university of maryland college park was the winner. >> we encouraged students to go on the site and use it and learn

more. >> reporter: what did they win? >> given a $5,000 grant to use on a project that we think is -- will enhance sustain ability on the campus. >> reporter: maybe they'll get advice from the office of sustain ability. >> there is only so much i can do. the students are really the ones leading the initiatives here to make this a greener campus. >> reporter: the university established the office of sustain ability in 2007. >> our main role is to create an energy and watery fisht campus and to create a campus that has minimized impacts on global warming emissions. >> reporter: installing green roofs is one day. >> rain water will be absorbed by the soil and small plants in the soil instead of flushing straight off the roof and into the gutters and streams and lakes, it will -- we're controlling storm water r. water management with the roofs and insulate president building. >> the student government has to

decide what they'll do with the prize. >> the greenest thing i do is have conversations with people about the issues, even though it is painful and tedious at times, to inspire them into action. >> reporter: looks like she's off to a great start. at the university of maryland, howard bernstein, for 9 news now and wusa.com. the newest arrival in our area were among the first babies born in 2010. >> this is the best thing i've done. >> reporter: joseph taylor at 7 pounds 12 ounces gets his first news conference for land k the title. first baby born in 2010 at inova hospital systems. >> came a little early. >> reporter: he was born at 12:03 a.m., a week before his expected due date. >> we cone have to calculate hold he is. very easy to remember. >> reporter: this birthday comes with special perks. gift baskets and free monthly dinners for a year at the local

pizza place. >> last night happened to be an extremely busy. >> inova had 10 babies born in five hours, beating the average by far of five babies per day. >> this mom thinks the full moon had something to do with her delivery, her baby girl is the first baby born at shady grove adventist hospital. >> everything happened so fast. >> mom wasn't expecting the baby girl to arrive until january 19th. >> doctors say both mothers and babies are doing well and should be heading home shortly. it is not uncommon to spend years in college, graduate with a degree and you'll never use and then you figure out what it is you really want to do with your life. dave owens introduces us to one young man who knew before kindergarten his calling is calling games. >> reporter: mike is right where

he belongs. microphone in hand calling the action. just ask st. vincent athletic director sdeef walker. >> mike was a freshman, came to me and wanted to know if he could announce games. >> he eventually took over varsity after j.v.. when you come to a panther game, that is his voice you hear. >> fun to watch and play. got good people on your side. >> he had big dreams and aspirations but his, well, career actually started in a room kind of like this, where he would actually look at the tv, turn the audio all the way down and pretend, well, he was a sportscaster. >> reporter: he was only three years old then and his family remembers it well. >> it was amazing. he took to it very easily and it really seemed to be quite a natural talent. >> reporter: by the time he arrived, the passion still burned.

he told walker. >> i want to be an announcer on espn one day. >> reporter: that goal would have to wait. when he was 15 years old he joined the national association of public address announcers, and -- >> the executive director called me and said, you're certify -- you're certified, you're the youngest announcer in the country. >> reporter: he won the public address announcer of the year. >> it was like wow. >> reporter: wow is right, but maybe not such a surprise, for the young man who always knew what he wanted. dave owens, 9 news now and wusa.com. from the king op pop to the lion of the senate the world loss some great lumen nary lives this year. we leave you this morning as we take a moment to remember many people who were part of our lives. have a great week. ♪ smile when your heart is

breaking ♪ ♪ when there are clouds in the sky ♪ ♪ you'll get by ♪ there is a joy you must keep on trying ♪ ♪ smile what's the use of crying ♪ ♪ you'll find the light is still worthwhile ♪ ♪ if you just smile ♪ though your heart is aching ♪ ♪ smile even though it's breaking ♪ ♪ when there are clouds in the sky ♪ ♪ you'll get by

♪ if you smile ♪ through your fear and sorrow ♪ ♪ smile as if it is tomorrow ♪ ♪ you'll find that life is still worthwhile ♪ ♪ if you just smile ♪ ♪that's a time you must keep on trying ♪ ♪ smile what's the use of

crying ♪ ♪ you'll find that life is still worthwhile ♪ ♪ if you just smi that is our 9 news now week of review, our first in 2010, hope you join us for many more to come. i'm anita brikman. have a great week.